1. Squash!!

2. Crock pot time!

“A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.” — Stephan Hoeller

I will never be sorry for any of my mistakes, they truly opened my eyes, taught me SOOOO much and got me to the much healthier place I am at today………I will only keep getting healthier!!

4. I posted yesterday about not being sure how to handle the “bread” situation during dinner. I talked about it in therapy tonight. Turns out…….I made the RIGHT decision!! I am so proud of myself!!! My eating habits have been so disordered for years, I do not know what is “normal” anymore. The fact that Sunday night, I truly did not have a desire for the bread (sure it looked ok, but I was not craving, wanting, DYING for it…..other things seems more appealing PLUS I did not want to fill up and feel bloated. I wanted to save room for my meal and taste all the other wonderful, exciting, new things. Bread is nothing new. I have had it before…….olives, on the other hand, are something I am experimenting with 🙂

This is NOT to say I will never want to try bread, I just didn’t Sunday night. I often crave bread and bagels, etc and DO eat them! 🙂

5. feeling accomplished.

I did a lot of things today. A lot of productive things. A lot of things I was avoiding. This made me feel better. As painful as it is to face reality, its better to get it done and over with, like a “band-aid”. This allows you to keep moving forward…..It is worth it!

6. Quick thinking.

What a GREAT center for a busy little guy in my classroom! He is having difficulty with his letters and also had a lot of extra energy today! SOoooo I had him match letter cards to my “Gumballs” on the carpet!! He loved crawling under the table to find the letter Q, R, S 🙂 He was MUCH calmer and focused after too!

(We will work on the letter J and G 🙂 )

AND

I (and my students) absolutely LOVE Mr. Potato Head. Here are some great ways to incorporate it in the classroom!

7. I feel my BEST in the morning. I feel happy, alert, productive, awake, full of hope…..as the day goes on I lose that little by little. I am currently trying to find ways to make it last all day and night 🙂

(This is how I feel in the morning!!)

8. Standing up for myself and believing in ME.

The past week I have had two situations that I stood my ground and kept my decision. The “old” me would have easily been “guilted” or swayed, but I stayed firm. I made a decision and stuck with it, no matter what anyone else said. Just when those guilty, unsure feelings arose, I fought back and am proud that I did. I know I did the right thing. How do I know? Because I am happy. I have a smile right now. I feel good!

9. Horoscope

LEO:

Pluto shifts in the sky on MONDAY, turning away from the past financial or sexual matters that have held your attention. You are now ready to move into new territory, make new changes or evolve current situations.

You will have two major themes then playing out this week: communications and third house matters including your writing, meetings, offers, sales, agreements, short trips, vehicles, electronics, siblings, neighbors, and decisions, and what is going on in the home, with family, real estate, moves, renovations, parents, or roommates.

MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY, and SUNDAY will be about the first group of topics. MONDAY the Sun moves here putting a spotlight on those ideas, talks, offers, the writing, agreements, sales, siblings, neighbors, vehicles, electronics, short trips, and decisions. This begins a 30-day cycle that is about you stepping into these matters on a personal or physical level and taking the lead, followed by the New Moon on WEDNESDAY that opens up your best 2 week window of the year to launch into new territory or take things to the next level here. FRIDAY is an open door to these matters while SUNDAY asks for some adjustments here involving sex, divorce, finances, or third parties. Your other home, family, real estate, move, renovation, and roommate area will be in focus on TUESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY. On TUESDAY you can earn money, make purchases or deal with possessions while THURSDAY marks the Eclipse Trigger date and something being ‘eclipsed’ out to open up the portal for that big new start. FRIDAY it all aligns harmoniously with the financial, sexual, divorce, mortality, birth, or third party situation, while SATURDAY amps up the information flow and any agreements, sales, writing, meetings, offers, or decisions here.

The only other major aspect this week lands on THURSDAY between lucky Jupiter and change oriented, Uranus. This should be about something big for you that involves travel, legal, educational, media, marketing, publishing, broadcasting, wedding, religious, or political interests, be in the moment, think big.

Wow. I absolutely LOVE my horoscope. It is so positive and exactly the reassurance I need to stay strong. Do I believe that a horoscope will make or break me? No. Do I feel I can make or break myself? SURE DO! It is all about your attitude and they way to look at life and deal with it. If you want positive things to happen, you need to BE POSITIVE!!!

Yay for crock pot recipes! I would say that I feel best in the mornings, definitely my most productive time of the day. This may sound strange, but I get a sense of satisfaction / excitement to get the house cleaned up and/or organized for the days coming up, as in meal planning for the week. I rarely read my horoscope, but I like to check the cats horoscopes. Do you read Lily’s to her?

I was wondering if you have a different strategy or way of thinking when you are eating with a group vs. alone (with the bread situation). I know I always behave differently if I’m eating with other people.

Not strange AT ALL about the satisfaction of a clean house!! I will admit it is NICE having my house nice and clean ALL The time bc it is on the market, I always have to be ready!
Oh my gosh, NO i have NOT checked Lily’s horoscope, you KNOW what I will be doing tomorrow!! Is it pretty accurate? LOL

Eating with people is difficult for me. I feel very comfortable around certain people that I know wont judge (not that anyone really will but it is in my head) My mom has been my ROCK in trying, experimenting, eating new foods. I do not feel guilty, “fat”, etc around her. I am completely comfortable , she lets me eat , encourages me, and has no set backs or limitations to what she tries. I get nervous eating in front of people still…..larger groups are easier since the focus is not on me, but I am always worried they are secretly judging me.

I had some rough experiences around food. Right when I started my recovery, I was having breakfast at a hotel in the morning and a worker approached me as I was toasting my bagel and said “YOU/!?!?!? , YOU??? Eat bagels?? You are so skinny, I thought for SURE you didnt eat bread” ……..i ended up throwing the bagel out. I am mad at myself for doing it, but at that time I was not ready